Featured Reviews

John Forrest is one of Marlborough and New Zealand’s
consummate winemakers. His
ever-thoughtful and scientific approach to making wine also includes a healthy
dose of passion and infectious enthusiasm, whether the wines are from his home
in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, the Waitaki Valley of Central Otago. John doesn’t hold back from trialling new
techniques and varieties, and has backed a number of emerging varieties,
exploring sites and winemaking styles best suited to them. As a result, the Forrest wines are always of
real interest and of high quality. Here,
I review the 2017 and 2016 Gruner Veltliners, the 2014 Chardonnay, plus the
John Forrest ‘Collection’ Pinot Noir 2013, all based on Marlborough fruit. www.forrest.co.nz

FEATURED WINES IN THIS REVIEW

Forrest Marlborough Gruner Veltliner 2017

Gruner Veltliner from New Zealand – Marlborough

17.5/20

Bright, light straw-yellow colour with slight green-gold
hues, lighter on the rim. The nose is
fine, firm and tightly bound with fresh and youthful aromas of white
stonefruits and herbal notes, along with mouthwatering minerals and hints of
lanolin. This is light and a little
restrained in expression. Dry to taste
and medium-bodied, the palate is gently sweet and luscious with flavours of
white and yellow stonefruits and soft notes of herbs and honeysuckle, revealing
some thirst-quenching mineral elements. The
fruit forms an elegantly concentrated heart with light phenolic textures
providing linearity, with integrated acidity lending palate freshness. The wine carries to a lingering, textured finish. This is a gently luscious-fruited dry Gruner
Veltliner with stonefruit and honeysuckle flavours on a light,
phenolic-textured palate with good linearity.
Match with herb-marinated white meat dishes over the next 3 years. Fruit from a single site in the Southern
Valleys, fermented with some solids in stainless steel to 12.5% alc. and 4.6
g/L RS, the wine aged 4 months on lees. 17.5/20 Dec 2018
RRP $25.00

Forrest Marlborough Gruner Veltliner 2016

Gruner Veltliner from New Zealand – Marlborough

18-/20

Bright, even, straw-yellow colour with pale golden hues,
lighter edged. The nose is up-front with
fresh and deep aromas of green stonefruits and fresh herbs along with waxy,
nutty and lanolin elements. The aromatics
have a mono-dimensional intensity that reveals detail with aeration. Dry to taste and medium-bodied, the palate
has a rich core with plenty of weight and presence of white and green
stonefruits, along with nutty and lanolin nuances. The fruit forms a concentrated heart with
light phenolic textures lending a little dry grip. The acidity is integrated, and the wine is
carried by the phenolics to a firm, lingering, nuanced finish of herbs and stonefruits. This is a dry Gruner Veltliner with good
weight and presence along with light phenolic textures and structure. Match with herb-marinated poultry, pork and
veal over the next 3+ years. Fruit from
a single site in the Southern Valleys, fermented in stainless-steel wit 7.5% in
seasoned oak to 12.0% alc. and 4.75 g/L RS, the barrrique-oaked portion spending
7 months on lees. 18.0-/20 Dec 2018
RRP $25.00

Forrest Marlborough Chardonnay 2014

Chardonnay from New Zealand – Marlborough

18/20

Bright, full, pale golden-hued yellow colour with some
depth, a little lighter on the rim. The
nose is softly fresh and accessible aromas of citrus fruit and yellow
stonefruits harmoniously entwined with creamy barrel-ferment and nutty, toasty
oak, a little buttery MLF, unfolding refreshing steely, mineral elements. Medium-full bodied, the palate is rich and
harmoniously melded with flavours of ripe citrus and yellow stonefruits entwined
with creamy barrel-ferment and nutty, toasty oak and mealy complexing
detail. The mouthfeel is fresh and
bright around a soft textured core that is allied to lively acidity. The wine carries along a light-textured line
with some dry phenolic grip leading to a finish with buttery MLF nuances. This s a harmoniously developed Chardonnay
with stonefruit and citrus flavours along with nutty and creamy oak and buttery
MLF on a fine, fresh palate with dry textures.
Match with roasted and grilled seafood, poultry and pork over the next
3+ years. A blend of 41% clone 95, 33%
Mendoza and 26% clone 15, 75% of the fruit from the central Wairau Valley and
25% Southern Valleys, 70% fermented in barriques and 30% in stainless-steel to
13.5% alc., the oaked portion aged 10 months on lees in barrel, 15% new, and
50% of the wine undergoing MLF. 18.0/20 Dec 2018
RRP $30.00

Full, even, dark garnet hued red colour, lighter on the edge
with a little bricking. The nose is
elegantly presented with a firm core of ripe dark-red and black cherry and
berry fruit entwined with dark herbs. This
has very good depth and intensity, and unfolds a little savoury secondary
complexity. Medium-full bodied, the
palate has sweetly rich and concentrated, vibrant fruit flavours of dark-red and
black berried fruits forming a fine and firm core. The fruit has intensity and is supported by
fine-grained tannin extraction lending plenty of drive, grip and
mouthfeel. The flavours carry to a
lingering finish with nuances of black fruits.
This is a sweet and lusciously rich, concentrated black-fruited Pinot
Noir with very good depth and intensity underlined by plenty of fine-grained
structure and drive. Match with beef,
lamb and venison dishes over the next 6+ years.
Clones 5 and 777 fruit from wines 12 y.o., from the Brancott Valley with
12% of the fruit from Bannockburn, Central Otago, fermented partially with
indigenous yeasts and 10% whole bunches to 14.0% alc., the wine aged 16 months
in 30% new oak. 19.0-/20 Dec 2018
RRP $45.00